Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage after a man died in a single vehicle crash at Thornton overnight.
Police and paramedics were called to Eurimbla Street at about 7.50pm on Monday August 4 to find a car had crashed into a parked car before crashing into a pole.
The driver - and sole occupant - a man in his 50's was treated before being taken to hospital in a critical condition; however he died a short time later.
The man is yet to be formally identified.
Police have set up a crime scene and are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
The Jump N Swim Academy at Thornton has received advice from Hunter New England Health that two COVID-19 positive people attended the centre between 5pm and 5:30pm on Wednesday 4 August.
In a post to Facebook, the academy says any children, guardians or staff that were in the pool or on pool deck during those times is considered a close contact and will need to be tested and isolate for 14 days.
Anyone else who was in front reception will be considered as a casual contact and will also need to be tested and isolate until a negative result is given.
Any children, guardians or staff who were at the centre between 4:30-5pm and 5:30-6pm are considered a casual contact and will also need to be tested and isolate until a negative result is received.
Its the second venue in Maitland to be added as a COVID-19 exposure site following Maitland Christian School closing on Thursday for deep cleaning and contract tracing.
A proposed 42-room boarding house at Thornton has been rejected by Maitland City Councilors.
The development application sought to demolish existing structures and construct four, three-storey boarding houses at Burnham Road.
The plans were tipped for refusal before the meeting on Tuesday night after garnering 57 submissions which were all against the project.
The council resolution found the development application provided insufficient information, was not suitable for the site, not in the public interest and it would have a "detrimental impact on the amenity and character of the area."
A Woodberry woman will face court next month accused of defrauding a local business of more than $250,000 dollars.
Investigations began in March into alleged fraudulent transactions at a Thornton business between June 2012 and May 2018.
It's alleged the 45-year-old transferred a $288,812 dollars from the business account to a number of personal bank accounts.
The woman was arrested at Raymond Terrace Police Station on Thursday and has been charged with 25 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.
The alleged fraudster has been granted strict conditional bail to face Maitland Local Court on Friday, October 11.
Detectives are appealing for information following the alleged assault and sexual touching of a teenage girl at Thornton last month.
Police have been told the 13-year-old was followed by a group of six males as she walked along Thomas Coke Drive at about 4:45pm on Thursday, July 4th.
Officers heard the males, described as being in their late teens and riding BMX pushbikes, pushed the girl to the ground and assaulted her near the intersection at John Arthur Avenue.
The victim further disclosed one of the males sexually touched her before she was able to run away.
Anyone who may have seen the incident is urged to come forward.
Police would like to hear from a man with dark hair and a long, well-kept beard, aged in his 40s or 50s, who was seen walking his dog near the Alan & Don Lawrence Oval close to the time the incident occurred.
He was walking a brown Border Collie cross German Sheppard.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Investigations are continuing into yesterday's tragic workplace accident at Thornton which claimed the life of a contractor.
Allan Newling, 55-year-old father-of-three died instantly when the amenities block he was unloading from his flatbed truck tipped and fell on him in the yeard of Onsite Rentals in Huntingdal Drive.
The precise circumstances leading up to the tragedy are still not known.
EARLIER:
BY IAN CROUCH
A report is being prepared for the Coroner after a man died in a workplace accident at Thornton.
It's understood the 56-year-old Lake Macquarie man was unloading a portable building from the back of a truck at an industrial estate in Huntingdale Drive at about 8.15 on Wednesday morning when the structure fell on top of him.
The man died at the scene.
Police and SafeWork NSW are investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident.
Police are still on the scene neat Maitland Train Station after a van ended up on the train tracks this morning.
Just before 10am, emergency services received reports of an Echo van on the tracks near the station carpark.
The car is in the process of being removed, but there is some damage to the track so there'll be spot work going on for around 2 hours once the van is removed.
Services between Telarah and Thornton are still suspended.
There is a limited bus service operating in place of the train service.
A report is being prepared for the Coroner after a man died in a workplace accident at Thornton.
It's understood the 56-year-old Lake Macquarie man was unloading a portable building from the back of a truck at an industrial estate in Huntingdale Drive at about 8.15 on Wednesday morning when the structure fell on top of him.
The man died at the scene.
Police and SafeWork NSW are investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident.
Officers At The Scene Of Workplace Accident at Thornton picture:theherald.com.au
Missing Persons Week has kicked off in NSW and the case of missing Thornton man Zac Barnes is a key part of the campaign.
NSW Police are renewing calls for any information on the now 19-year-old who disappeared into bushland at the intersection of Tripp Close and Haussman Drive on Sunday 13th November last year.
Police believe he may have also attended a house nearby in the area.
Zac's mother Karen has told NBN she's losing hope of ever seeing her son again.
"We never thought that he was never coming home but as we get to nine months it's like he's possibly never coming home."
Zac is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 190cmtall, with short brown hair, a receding hairline and of a large build. He was last seen wearing a faded tie-dye blue singlet, dark blue board shorts and work boots.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Missing Persons Week is an annual campaign which will this year run until next Saturday (5 August 2017) and the theme for this year is 'Still waiting for you to come'
The families of missing persons still waiting for their loved ones to come home being used in this weeks campaign include 21-year-old Sevak Simonian from Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches, 15-year-old Stephen Turvey from Macquarie Fields and 52-year-old Kathleen Lidden from Bowral.
The campaign aims to highlight the high number of people reporting missing to police each year and the impact on family and friends following the disappearance of a loved one.
Following the approval of 247 housing lots at Thornton and Louth Park there have been renewed calls for the State Government to invest in the area.
The developments and their applications across the two suburbs were approved at Tuesday's Maitland Council Meeting just weeks after 511 lots were approved for Defence Housing, also in Thornton.
Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison believes the approval of more housing developments goes to the very heart of why the State Government must invest in more infrastructure in the area, particularly in schools.
"We need to ensure that the government comes good on infrastructure. The
government needs to invest in Maitland in schools and education in
order to make sure these people who come to Maitland have adequate
facilities," said MP Jenny Aitchison.
Census data shows there was a two percent population increase in Maitland between 2011 and 2016 with the numbers only going up. Maitland was also identified as a high growth area being the fastest growing outside of the Sydney metropolitan area.
MP Jenny Aitchison says the lack of housing affordability in Sydney, Newcastle and in other major centres, is pushing people to come to Maitland instead where there's relatively low cost housing compared to a lot of these areas.
"The development approved goes to the very heart of why we need this new hospital, why we need the government to be investing in schools. We will be working to get new schools into Maitland to get expansion of our existing schools to cope with that demand."
Maitland's population is set to grow even further following council's approval of two development applications for 247 lots across Thornton and Louth Park at Tuesday night's council meeting.
According to the latest census data, Maitland's population exceeds 77,000 residents, which is a two percent increase from the 2011 census results.
The approval of more residential housing comes just weeks after Maitland Council approved a housing development application from Defence Housing Australia known as Wirraway, which features 511 housing lots in Thornton.
An application for a 71 lot residential subdivision within the North Urban Release Area, with associated stormwater infrastructure at 508 Raymond Terrace Road was lodged by Paradigm Planning and Development was originally lodged with council along with a proposed new intersection onto Raymond Terrace Road.
Council's report shows two submissions were received during the public notification period in objection to the proposed development saying "a landowner opposite the subject site objects to the development on the grounds of traffic impacts and the intersection design; and the other from the adjoining landowner to the west who objects to the development on the grounds of the location of the road connection between the two sites". The report says the issues have been addressed in the report.
At Louth Park, Valhalla Investments lodged an application to develop the existing two lot land into 176 lots for housing on Dagworth Road, which has been identified as a bushfire prone, gazetted within a proclaimed Mine Subsidence District and subject to flooding.
Maitland Council's Manager for Development and Environment said although the sites are prone to fire, mine subsidence and flooding, the development area has passed all the required assessments.
"There are areas around Louth Park that are subject to flooding, much like most parts of Maitland but, those issues have been well planned for and evacuation routes are sound for this particular subdivision.
"Mine subsidence does have a role to play in the approval of structures, having said that the Mine Subsidence Board have signed off on the principle of residential development.
Mr Simm believes the release of the land is a step towards addressing the population growth of the region.
"The population growth and the number of residential lots released over the past five to seven years demonstrate the demand for housing in the Maitland area," Mr Simm said.
Development site for 71 houses at Raymond Terrace Road, Thornton.
Development site for 176 houses at Dagworth Road, Louth Park.
Police believe a fire which destroyed a home in Thornton over the weekend was deliberately lit.
Firefighters were called to the home on Singleton Avenue at about 2:50am on Saturday morning where they found the home well alight.
It took 25 firefighters to extinguish the blaze from four different fire stations.
Six people who were inside were lucky to escape including a man, a woman and their children. Four of the occupants were taken to Maitland Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Police are urging anyone with information to come forward as investigations continue.
Five hundred families will soon be calling Maitland home at a new housing development site in Thornton.
Defence Housing Australia is behind the new 511-lot housing development which will provide roughly 250 homes for defence force families based at the Williamtown RAAF Base, and the remaining homes for the general public.
The 58-hectare site will be completed within six stages, with two already complete, and called Wirraway after a training fighter plane and one of the very first squadrons at the Williamtown RAAF base.
Thornton was chosen as the best site for the new development with Development Manager Gully Coote saying the lots available to the public have pretty much sold out and stage three is about to get underway.
"After a lot of looking, and deliberations, Defence determined that the amenities that were available in Thornton and the Maitland area and it's proximity to base; the availability of schools, the future redevelopment of schools, all of that made it a great opportunity for us for out families."
A 17-year-old man is on the run after approaching a 16-year-old in Thornton overnight threatening him with a small knife.
Just after 10:30pm, the 16-year-old was withdrawing money from a Westpac ATM on Taylor Avenue, as he walked away he was approached by the man who demanded his cash.
The 16-year-old handed over the cash and ran.
The offender also ran and is described as Caucasian and wearing a Adidas hoodie and grey pants with white joggers. He also has a piercing on his left eyebrow.
Anyone with information are urged to contact Crimestoppers or Maitland detectives.
Police have raided five Hunter properties in Thornton, Lambton, Branxton, Cameron Park and Kearsley this morning with alleged links to the Finks bikie gang.
The raids follow a brawl at the Fire Station Hotel in Wallsend last Friday where it's alleged men with links to the Finks were involved in a brawl with several other men.
The Cameron Park property is believed to be the clubhouse of the gang.
A man is expected to face Maitland Local Court today, following the execution of a search warrant at a property in Thornton.
Police searched the Campden Street property around 8am yesterday morning seizing a number of items including a "single-shot pen gun".
The 39-year-old offender was arrested and taken to Maitland Police Station.
The man was charged with supply large commercial quantity of prohibited drug, three counts of possess prohibited drug, possess unregistered firearm, possess ammunition without holding licence/permit, and possess prohibited weapon.
Shadow Minister for Communication, Jason Clare today visited Thornton alongside Labor Candidate for Paterson Meryl Swanson to deliver his promise of providing 19-thousand homes and businesses in Thornton with fibre to the-premises NBN if a Labor government wins this Saturday's federal election.
Across the Hunter Labor have promised to deliver fiber-to-the-premises to over 50,000 homes and businesses.
Jason Clare says Thornton deserves a better rate version of the NBN and not the 'fraudband' the coalition are rolling out.
"When I was here last year I met a nurse who has to climb on her roof to download her roster. She has to get on her roof with a laptop and a dongle. That is how bad it is her in Thornton."
Meryl Swanson says Labor's proper NBN is going to make a difference to not only peoples lives but also their livelihoods.
"Let me tell you it [the coalitions NBN] is not teething problems, it is a design problem. One we will fix with fibre to the premise NBN."
Labor says it's network costs less than the coalitions to operate due to not having the cost of putting in new copper, not having the cost of fixing the old copper and not having the cost of the electricity that comes with running the 30,000 nodes that come with Malcolm Turnbull's copper version of the NBN.
"Australia has dropped from 30th in the world to 60th in the world over the past 3 years due to Malcolm Turnbull rolling out second rate copper." Mr. Clare Said.
Labor have capped their NBN spend at $57 billion.
Shadow Minister for Communication Jason Clare in Thornton today.
